One mother's love, another's loss.
Between them a child grows into manhood but can never return home. The Other Side of Me by Gary Lang NT Dance Company, shares the tragedy of Stolen Generations through the true story of an Aboriginal man stranded between two families, continents and cultures – specifically the little-known experience of people adopted into families abroad.
Drawing on a collection of personal letters and poems, Larrakia man Gary Lang, led a cross-cultural collaboration with Northumbria University in the United Kingdom. With care and compassion, this exquisite work of contemporary dance poses questions about the relationship between country of origin, identity, adoption, the criminal justice system and psychological health.
Achingly intimate, the duet confronts the destruction wrought by monarchy and colony, that is still felt by First Nations peoples, but finds redemptive beauty as his spirit is sung home. The work concludes with a 15-minute in-conversation for audiences.
The story is based on real events. However, names, incidents and timelines have been changed for dramatic purposes. All characters depicted in the production are composites or fictitious. Any similarity to the original story, or of fictitious characters to an actual person, living or dead, is coincidental and unintentional.